Outlaw Kitchens — Restaurant in San Antonio

Finally lined up with the stars to make it in here. Peggy was fantastic, very busy, but very attentive. And when she wasnt able to get to us, Steve and a young lady (hostess?) Had her back. Parking is odd. Street parking and they ask you to try and not park in front of someones home. Most patrons completely ignored the request. Sad.... No handicap parking that i could see... They have a drop off designated space by the front door. Not helpful. Ok, so the food.... Herb crusted rack of lamb. Juicy. Tender. Wish that beautiful herb flavor was infused in the meat, but overall good.... Haystack potatoes still remind me of shoestring potatoes but obviously not from that can lol... They were layered across a bit of ratatouille... Broccoli was broccoli, nothing major... We had the three course meal. Started with fresh handpulled mozzarella. Yum. Mixed greens. Mixed baby tomatoes. Basil and olive tampinode on a crusty bread. We tried to decide what we liked the most on this plate, but couldn't, all beautiful flavors dancing in harmony... Dessert was the strawberry shortcake... This was my moms 100%.. Loved it, save room. Now aside from the oddly placed small table by the window we were sat at, with the door to the front patio slamming shut all night behind my friend and the workroom behind me that had people dropping things time and again, it was interesting... Dress accordingly when its hot outside because its just a little less hot inside, even with the ceiling fan.. With our reservation we requested inside, they wanted to sit us at this diner style bar. Looked very uncomfortable. A party of four sat there and spent the evening twisting sideways to talk, just saying... Inside seating seemed hit and miss (more miss)... Patio seating looked much more intentional and spaced... They had those misters on the patio, i have another friend that will not sit with water spraying her makeup or hair... But well even with better spacing its still outside and that hot air just lingered... Overall, we said we would wait for better weather before...

First of all, the atmosphere is wonderful, inside and outside. Some serious foodies gather here. The herb and produce gardens ring almost the entire grounds and they are lovingly tended. The restaurant is nestled on a quiet residential street in Alta Vista, which has gentrified nicely. The menu for the prix fixe offered a starter of carpaccio, either a salmon or pasta entree and three dessert choices: flourless chocolate cake, coconut cream pie or creme brulee. My dining companion wasn't into raw beef, and her distaste for it knocked me off my feed, so we both opted out. I wish they had offered an alternate appetizer. Raw beef cannot possibly be everyone's appetizer go-to, although it looked delicious, plated up with an artfully elaborate presentation. We both chose the salmon entree, which was well prepared and beautifully plated. We both chose the flourless chocolate cake, but my friend eschews any flour at all, and this cake either had flour in it or some sort of nut meal that deprived the recipe of its characteristically glossy look and mouth-feel. I told the waiter to box up her cake to go (for my neighbor)and my companion opted for the pie as her replacement. It was delicious and the crust was flakey but a dark shade of golden brown, indicating a few moments too long in the oven. I ate my cake but it was not a stellar version of the classic recipe. I rated it a 7/10. Neither of us ordered any alcohol. She had water and l had coffee with dessert, which was served in a clear drinking glass and wasn't more than 3-4 ounces. Heavy cream came with it, but no sweetener was offered. It was delish, but the serving method seemed a bit contrived. Next came the check. No appetizers, two entrees, three desserts, one coffee, and the tip came out to around $105. Pretty steep for salmon and dessert, we thought. Still, the service was wonderful, the vibe was great, and we suspected the menu changes often enough to warrant a second trip. Even with the few glitches, we rated...

My mother and I went there last night for dinner. Food was fantastic, although the rack of lamb could have had a little more spice. Presentation was great. Overall the food was really wonderful. For dessert, my mother had the almond torte, it was fantastic. I had strawberry shortcake. I don’t know who their baker is, from what they said it’s one of their Chefs. But the biscuit used for the strawberry shortcake was unbelievable. It was amazing. 10 out of 5 for that. Nom nom.

Please be aware this is very small place and the inside gets crowded and pretty noisy and busy. The outside has a lot more space of course and they do use misters. But inside reservations can be difficult.

The wine list is great. And the prices are definitely not insane. If you are going to be more than one person, I highly suggest just going ahead and purchasing a bottle. The pricing when you compare per glass for per bottle, is actually very fair. In our example I think it was $13 per glass and about $43 maybe for the bottle. The petite sitar we had, paired wonderfully with the rack of lamb.

Now my only real negative: The wine was very warm. We actually had to order some ice to cool it down. I generally like to keep my wine in the 55° to 65° range, Fahrenheit of course. And temperature of red wine is always up for debate. However in this case, it was very warm. It had to be in the mid 70°s for that bottle. So my suggestion, when you get your wine, see how warm the bottle is and you might need to get some ice like we did.

So to wrap this up, other than the Vino temp, it was fantastic. The casual atmosphere, serving staff, and the food led to a very wonderful experience. Definitely will be going back. Many times. But damn… those biscuits for the...